“The people of California want me to be their governor,” Schwarzenegger said in his first press conference since ousting Gov. Gray Davis.

“I will do that – nothing else,” the “Terminator” star added. “I will work as much as I can . . . so there will no time for movies or anything else.”

In an interview last night with CBS’s Dan Rather, Schwarzenegger expressed no regrets that his ballot-box victory meant an end to his huge box-office career, at least until his first term ends in 2006.

“I’m more than happy to give up the movies. I’ve done it for 25 years,” he said.

The actor-turned-governor said he would have no time for acting while dealing with the state’s financial crisis, joking that it would only be “a dream” to be “the real Terminator, where I don’t need sleep, and I’m a machine.”

Schwarzenegger said he spent the morning after his stunning victory receiving a cascade of congratulations, including calls from President Bush and his ex-president dad, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and top California officials, many of them Democrats.

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday wished Schwarzenegger “good luck” – but said the recall process “is not a good idea.”

“What you want to do is to come into office and make tough decisions and have time to show the wisdom of those decisions before you have to face the voters again,” Bloomberg said.

The Terminator said he was stirred awake by his daughter, who brought him coffee in bed and called him “Mr. Governor.”

“It was a terrific morning, an exciting one,” he said.

Rather asked Schwarzenegger about the sexual-misconduct allegations that dogged him in the last days of the campaign, and how he would react if wife Maria Shriver told him she had been groped.

“She has come to me in the past and said that,” Schwarzenegger answered.

“So, I mean I totally understand that,” he said, adding he had apologized to any women who were offended, while also dismissing some of the allegations as untrue.

Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, dismissed talk of efforts to overturn constitutional restrictions that bar foreign-born citizens from running for president.

“I have no interest in running for any higher office,” he said.

His victory means his journalist-wife will be returning to her job.

NBC officials yesterday called Shriver a “valued member of our team,” and said they want the reporter back at work, even though she’s carrying the new title of California first lady.

Shriver, who took a leave of absence while her hubby was running, had vowed to return to work after the campaign.

Shriver “has always been determined to avoid any conflict between her personal and professional life,” the network said.

“We’ll work with her to determine the best way to do that, and what assignments are appropriate, when she is ready to rejoin NBC News.”

But Orville Schell, dean of the journalism school at the University of California, said Shriver will have a hard time, because she now “lives in a world where it’s virtually impossible to escape the gravity of the governorship and the campaign.”

Winners & Losers

Winners:

* Arnold: Wow – a landslide! Watch for a push to amend the U.S. Constitution to drop the born-in-America requirement for president.

* Maria Shriver: One-ups Hillary in standing by your man.

* Republicans: A morale-boosting triumph for everyone, starting with President Bush.